Introducing Design Teams to Org That Haven't Had One!

Many tech companies grow up on engineering and product management alone. Features get scoped, built, and shipped at speed. Engineers solve hard technical problems, PMs keep the roadmap moving, and the company gets by—sometimes for years—without anyone really thinking about design beyond “does it look okay?”

But then cracks start to show:

• Users don’t adopt features the way you hoped.

• The product feels clunky compared to competitors.

• Support tickets pile up with “how do I…?” questions.

• Leadership wants to scale, but the customer experience just doesn’t scale with it.

That’s usually the moment someone says: “Maybe we need design.”

If you’re the person introducing (or building) that design function, you’ll know: it’s not just about hiring a designer or two. It’s about shifting culture, expectations, and ways of working. And that’s where the challenges really begin.

Challenge 1: Getting Everyone to Understand What “Design” Means

The biggest misconception in orgs new to design is thinking it’s purely about visuals—colors, buttons, or cleaning things up after engineering is done. The reality is much broader:

• User research to uncover real needs.

• Prototyping to explore ideas before they’re built.

• Interaction design to make complex systems usable.

• Testing and iteration to validate what works.

When people haven’t worked with designers before, it’s hard for them to picture this. I’ve found that showing is more powerful than telling. Running a quick usability test and playing back the recording to engineers or PMs usually lands harder than a deck of slides ever could. Suddenly, the value clicks: “Oh, now I see why we need this.”

Challenge 2: Shifting the Definition of Success

In engineering-heavy cultures, success often means shipping fast and ticking roadmap items off. PMs may be rewarded for the number of features launched.

Designers come in asking different questions:

• Did we solve the right problem?

• Is it usable without explanation?

• Do users want to come back?

This creates tension at first. It feels like design is slowing down the delivery machine. But when teams see that design prevents wasted effort—because we stop building things nobody uses—mindsets start to shift. Moving from “outputs” (features shipped) to “outcomes” (problems solved, adoption gained) is one of the hardest but most important cultural leaps.

Challenge 3: Building Trust and Avoiding the “Slowdown” Label

Early on, engineers may worry that design means more meetings, more process, and less autonomy. PMs may wonder if their product decisions are being second-guessed.

The way through this is partnership. Embed designers directly into squads. Encourage them to sketch with engineers, co-create with PMs, and keep early processes lightweight. The message has to be: design isn’t here to slow you down—it’s here to make sure we’re building the right thing, the right way.

When the first feature goes live with fewer bugs, fewer support tickets, and faster adoption, trust grows quickly.

Challenge 4: Introducing Process Without Overwhelming

A mature design org might have design systems, crits, research ops, accessibility reviews, and more. Drop all of that into a team that’s never worked with design, and you’ll get blank stares (or resistance).

Instead, it’s smarter to start small:

• A regular design review that engineers can attend.

• One or two usability tests on upcoming features.

• Early prototypes that make product discussions tangible.

Once the value is visible, you can layer on more structure. In my experience, “showing the impact” first always beats “rolling out the process” first.

Challenge 5: Sorting Out Roles and Responsibilities

Without clarity, design can feel like it’s stepping on toes. Who owns the “what”? Who owns the “how”? What if design starts shaping product strategy—does that mean PMs lose influence?

Here, I’ve found it’s critical to define design as a partner, not a downstream service. Designers should be shaping problems and solutions alongside PMs and engineers. They’re not “making things pretty” after the fact—they’re helping to define what the thing should even be.

This doesn’t erase product or engineering ownership. It just means decisions are better informed, and blind spots get caught earlier.

Challenge 6: Proving Value with Evidence

Skepticism fades fastest when you have data. That can be:

• Clips from usability sessions showing a user struggling with a flow.

• Metrics showing reduced support calls after a redesign.

• Side-by-side comparisons of old vs. new flows.

• Stories from users who now “get it” instantly.

These receipts turn abstract ideas about “user experience” into tangible proof. Suddenly, design isn’t a luxury—it’s saving time, money, and reputation.

Maturing Beyond the First Wins

Once the design function has its foothold, the challenges shift. You’ll need to think about:

• Scaling the team without losing quality.

• Design systems to keep experiences consistent.

• Formalized research practices to feed strategy.

• Executive storytelling to keep design top of mind at leadership level.

At this stage, you’re no longer just introducing design—you’re maturing it. That means balancing ambition with pragmatism: building a strong design culture while staying tightly integrated with the engineering and product machine.

Last thoughts

Bringing design into an org that’s never had it is not just a hiring exercise. It’s a culture shift. It means moving from shipping for the sake of shipping, to building products people actually love to use. It's also going to be different between organisations, and being adaptable and knowing how to succeed is critical. \

The early days can be bumpy. There will be skepticism, role confusion, and fears of slowdown. But if you take the time to educate, embed, prove value, and grow deliberately, the payoff is huge.

At the end of the day, design isn’t just about screens. It’s about making sure all the hard work of engineers and PMs actually lands with the people who matter most: the users. It's about creating products that our customers love...